Putting a new system together
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Posted by Ean on February 20, 2008, 5:27 am
Please log in for more thread options The system will be mainly used for Multimedia - i.e playing/encoding xvid/avi, music (converting vinyl, tapes and CD's). I will not be using it for game playing. Specs so far are:- Intel Core 2 Duo Desktop Processor E8400 Coolermaster Black 690 Case 4 500GB Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000KS hard drives Sata enclosure bay Pata enclosure bay dvdrw sata/pata not sure yet. 2Gb ddr2 memory xp pro Advise on these :- Motherboard - capable of supporting the above plus esata,usb and onboard audio (if quality of sound is good) with tos link/coaxial connections to go to 5.1 sound system. I will need at least 6 sata and 1 esata on board. PSU - capable powering the above with leads long enough to reach every connection as it will be mounted on the bottom of the case. Graphic card - 2 vga connections for 17" ws and 15" monitors - may get 24" ws in the future so support for that would be a plus. TVout (svideo) would be desirable, as would dvi. Cooling - CPU and any other fans not supplied with the case. The system needs to be fairly quiet as it will be in the living room and will be used everyday from a few hours to several days continuously. The reason for the pata enclosure is to transfer files from all my hard drives (at least 8 of them) and I have a 500Gb Hitachi that will be put into system though that may just get put into the HD bay and the enclosure removed. Hope someone can help me narrow down the choices. Cost is not a factor but reliability and system stability is. Thanks | |||||||||||||||||||
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Posted by John Weiss on February 20, 2008, 2:00 pm
Please log in for more thread options > Advise on these :-
> Motherboard - capable of supporting the above plus esata,usb and > onboard audio (if quality of sound is good) with tos link/coaxial > connections to go to 5.1 sound system. I will need at least 6 sata and > 1 esata on board. Look at something like the Gigabyte X38-DS4 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128080). It comes with an eSATA header, but that may take up some of the internal SATA slots you need. You may have to go with the X38-DQ6 at $60-80 more, which has 8 SATA slots. OTOH, you may be better off with an add-in SATA RAID card in the spare PCIe 16x slot... If audio/video encoding is your main purpose, you'll need an add-in audio card. The on-board audio is not great. > PSU - capable powering the above with leads long enough to reach every
> connection as it will be mounted on the bottom of the case. Antec Earthwatts 500 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371007). My C2D rig only pulls about 120 watts with an ATI X1950 video card and 2 HDs... OTOH, the Coolermaster 690 I found (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119142) includes a 550W PSU with 3 19A 12V rails... Dunno why they put the PSU in the bottom; seems like the standard of exahusting the PSU through the top rear would enhance natural convection... > Graphic card - 2 vga connections for 17" ws and 15" monitors - may get
> 24" ws in the future so support for that would be a plus. TVout > (svideo) would be desirable, as would dvi. Depends on whether you're an nVidia or ATI fan... An X1950 Pro (or nVidia equivalent) is probably plenty for what you're doing, but get what you think you'll be happy with. > Cooling - CPU and any other fans not supplied with the case.
Get the "retail box" CPU with heat sink & fan included. That will be plenty, as long as you don't overclock. If you do plan on OC, you may have to get fancier... A good case should include all the fans necessary for normal running. A cheap case may include cheap (i.e., noisy) fans, so choose wisely. I am very happy with my Lian Li PC-60B+II (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112100). The "+II" version replaced a couple of the 80 mm fans with 120 mm, and it's even quieter (i.e., can't notice it from 3' away) than the older PC60 I have for my other system. > The system needs to be fairly quiet as it will be in the living room
> and will be used everyday from a few hours to several days > continuously. The reason for the pata enclosure is to transfer files > from all my hard drives (at least 8 of them) and I have a 500Gb > Hitachi that will be put into system though that may just get put into > the HD bay and the enclosure removed. > > Hope someone can help me narrow down the choices. > > Cost is not a factor but reliability and system stability is. | |||||||||||||||||||
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Posted by Ean on February 21, 2008, 6:57 am
Please log in for more thread options On Wed, 20 Feb 2008 11:00:41 -0800, "John Weiss"
>Look at something like the Gigabyte X38-DS4
Thanks I'll look into these
>(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128080). It comes >with an eSATA header, but that may take up some of the internal SATA slots you >need. You may have to go with the X38-DQ6 at $60-80 more, which has 8 SATA >slots. OTOH, you may be better off with an add-in SATA RAID card in the spare >PCIe 16x slot... > >If audio/video encoding is your main purpose, you'll need an add-in audio card.
Yeah I sorta thought I might as reviews of motherboards never seem to
>The on-board audio is not great. > give much info on the sound quality. >
>> PSU - capable powering the above with leads long enough to reach every
>> connection as it will be mounted on the bottom of the case. >
Wasn't sure on how much power I would need, i'll check it out.
>Antec Earthwatts 500 >(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371007). My C2D rig >only pulls about 120 watts with an ATI X1950 video card and 2 HDs... > >OTOH, the Coolermaster 690 I found
Not sure they do that model in the UK but I'll have a look.
>(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119142) includes a >550W PSU with 3 19A 12V rails... > >Dunno why they put the PSU in the bottom; seems like the standard of exahusting
That's what I would have thought but I really like the look of the
>the PSU through the top rear would enhance natural convection... > case, I may change my mind after further research. >
>> Graphic card - 2 vga connections for 17" ws and 15" monitors - may get
>> 24" ws in the future so support for that would be a plus. TVout >> (svideo) would be desirable, as would dvi. >
Don't really have an opinion as long as it does the job I'll go with
>Depends on whether you're an nVidia or ATI fan... An X1950 Pro (or nVidia >equivalent) is probably plenty for what you're doing, but get what you think >you'll be happy with. > that. I'll check that card out. >
>> Cooling - CPU and any other fans not supplied with the case.
>
as
>Get the "retail box" CPU with heat sink & fan included. That will be plenty, >long as you don't overclock. If you do plan on OC, you may have to get
OC'ing is not really my thing as I just want a stable and reliable
>fancier... > system that will be as future proof as I can get. >A good case should include all the fans necessary for normal running. A cheap
Thanks for the info, you have given me some options to check.
>case may include cheap (i.e., noisy) fans, so choose wisely. I am very happy >with my Lian Li PC-60B+II >(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112100). The "+II" >version replaced a couple of the 80 mm fans with 120 mm, and it's even quieter >(i.e., can't notice it from 3' away) than the older PC60 I have for my other >system. > | |||||||||||||||||||
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Posted by MS on February 21, 2008, 7:25 am
Please log in for more thread options What about a water cooling solution?
MS > Hi
> The system will be mainly used for Multimedia - i.e playing/encoding > xvid/avi, music (converting vinyl, tapes and CD's). I will not be > using it for game playing. > Specs so far are:- > Intel Core 2 Duo Desktop Processor E8400 > Coolermaster Black 690 Case > 4 500GB Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000KS hard drives > Sata enclosure bay > Pata enclosure bay > dvdrw sata/pata not sure yet. > 2Gb ddr2 memory > xp pro > > Advise on these :- > Motherboard - capable of supporting the above plus esata,usb and > onboard audio (if quality of sound is good) with tos link/coaxial > connections to go to 5.1 sound system. I will need at least 6 sata and > 1 esata on board. > > PSU - capable powering the above with leads long enough to reach every > connection as it will be mounted on the bottom of the case. > > Graphic card - 2 vga connections for 17" ws and 15" monitors - may get > 24" ws in the future so support for that would be a plus. TVout > (svideo) would be desirable, as would dvi. > > Cooling - CPU and any other fans not supplied with the case. > > The system needs to be fairly quiet as it will be in the living room > and will be used everyday from a few hours to several days > continuously. The reason for the pata enclosure is to transfer files > from all my hard drives (at least 8 of them) and I have a 500Gb > Hitachi that will be put into system though that may just get put into > the HD bay and the enclosure removed. > > Hope someone can help me narrow down the choices. > > Cost is not a factor but reliability and system stability is. > > Thanks > > | |||||||||||||||||||
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Posted by Andrew Smallshaw on February 21, 2008, 5:58 pm
Please log in for more thread options On 2008-02-21, MS <news.telepac.pt> wrote:
> What about a water cooling solution? Is there anything that the OP wrote to suggest a water cooling system is warranted? He was after reliability more than anything else and has not interest in overclocking. Water cooling is just adding something else that can go wrong. Even the noise benefits of water cooling are marginal vs a well done air cooled system. -- Andrew Smallshaw andrews@sdf.lonestar.org | |||||||||||||||||||
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> The system will be mainly used for Multimedia - i.e playing/encoding
> xvid/avi, music (converting vinyl, tapes and CD's). I will not be
> using it for game playing.
> Specs so far are:-
> Intel Core 2 Duo Desktop Processor E8400
> Coolermaster Black 690 Case
> 4 500GB Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000KS hard drives
> Sata enclosure bay
> Pata enclosure bay
> dvdrw sata/pata not sure yet.